June 9, 2010 - As Ruben Diaz Jr. stepped onto a sidewalk in the South Bronx, his shiny black shoes the color of his air-conditioned Tahoe, a flock of violins began to play. Read more.

June 8, 2010 - The Bloomberg administration's plan to study the effects of living wage laws came under attack today from a set of Council members and City Comptroller John Liu, who called the effort a "sham." Read more.

May 27, 2010 - Developers lost out on the chance to build a mall at the Kingsbridge Armory because they wouldn’t guarantee a living wage for workers there. Read more.

May 26, 2010 - Two Bronx politicians are picking up the torch from the living wage campaign that was at the heart of last year's battle over the Kingsbridge Armory. Read more.

May 12, 2010 - It's been a challenge for those who want to develop the Kingsbridge Armory. NY1’s Dean Meminger took a look inside the Bronx building and filed the following report. Read more.

April 29, 2010 - A closed door meeting -- prompted by deals like Atlantic Yards, Yankee Stadium and Columbia University's expansion -- is examining how developers deliver community benefits in New York. Read more.

April 28, 2010 - Despite the recession, a number of large development projects are still in the works in New York City. Plans are under way for two large housing developments on the Williamsburg waterfront and the city is also working on plans to develop new, mixed-use pr Read more.

April 28, 2010 - As the battle over how to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory continues, members of a recently formed task force toured the nearly 100-year-old structure Wednesday in hopes of generating a new round of proposals. NY1's Dean Meminger filed the following repor Read more.

April 28, 2010 - News that Walmart is considering the Related Cos.-owned Gateway II shopping center reprises the battle between the developer and a retail workers union over the Kingsbridge Armory last year. Read more.

April 27, 2010 - Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg suffered an embarrassment last December when the City Council rejected a major developer’s plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars transforming an unused armory in the Bronx, the city’s poorest borough, into a shopping mal Read more.

April 22, 2010 - The race is on for the proverbially embattled state Sen. Pedro Espada’s seat. Read more.

April 18, 2010 - Polarizing politician Pedro Espada faces a primary challenge this September in his Bronx district. Read more.

April 17, 2010 - Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, a community organizer who fought against the creation of a shopping mall inside the Kingsbridge Armory, officially began her campaign today to unseat State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada, Jr. Read more.

April 13, 2010 - This is the continuation of a "Subsidies in the City." Read more.

April 13, 2010 - ix years ago, Manhattan Laminates received tax breaks from the city's Industrial Development Agency, the financing arm of the city's Economic Development Corp. In a deal that will span 25 years ending in 2029, Laminates has already received $197,000 in pu Read more.

April 12, 2010 - Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. discussed the future of the Kingsbridge Armory Monday night on local cable TV show Bronx Talk. Read more.

April 7, 2010 - Community groups and elected officials rallied on the steps of the Bronx County Courthouse yesterday to draw attention to the issue of overcrowding in Bronx schools. Read more.

April 7, 2010 - A group of Bronx parents in an overcrowded school district wants the city to boot National and New York Guard units from the Kingsbridge Armory annex and build four new schools there. But one potential solution has stalled. Read more.

April 6, 2010 - Parents in the Bronx joined elected officials for a rally Tuesday to address overcrowding in schools. Read more.

April 6, 2010 - The City Council might require buildings that receive tax breaks to pay their staff higher wages. The real estate industry opposes the idea. Where does the mayor stand? Read more.

April 6, 2010 - NEW YORK—Elected officials, students, parents, and concerned community members joined together on Tuesday at the Bronx Borough Court House to demand construction of four small schools at the 195th Street buildings beside the Kingsbridge Armory. Read more.

April 4, 2010 - Real-estate mogul Steve Ross found one of the few upsides to owning one of the city's premier properties in a severe recession -- he won steep tax reductions for his Time Warner Center holdings when he joined a record number of property owners challenging Read more.

April 3, 2010 - When Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, the world stopped for a moment. Shaken, confused but searching for a way to continue the fight, civil rights leaders decided to continue King's Poor People's Campaign by building a tent city Read more.

March 26, 2010 - The push for the creation of a city wide living wage law is beginning to gear up-and the Observer has the story Read more.

March 25, 2010 - Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., along with City Councilman Fernando Cabrera, has announced a task force charged with deciding the future of the Kingsbridge Armory. It’s comprised of what Mr. Diaz called “heavyweights, with expertise in many different ar Read more.

March 24, 2010 - Three months after the defeat of the Kingsbridge Armory proposal, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., defended his role in blocking the project and called for a new round of proposals for the building that would benefit his borough. Read more.

March 24, 2010 - Opening a new - and hopefully final - chapter in the Kingsbridge Armory saga, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. has named the members of a new redevelopment task force, in a ritual dating back more than a decade. Read more.

March 22, 2010 - Earlier today, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and City Councilman Fernando Cabrera announced a big-name lineup of "heavy hitters" to serve on a task force that they hope will come up with a new plan to put the massive and long-vacant Kingsbridge Armory Read more.

March 22, 2010 - Three months ago, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. stood outside City Hall with a smile, fresh off a City Council vote that had defeated Related Companies' plan to redevelop the Bronx's hulking Kingsbridge Armory as a mall. Read more.

March 18, 2010 - The announcement of a task force to create a plan for the Kingsbridge Armory had the Bronx in a tizzy at Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.’s State of the Borough address March 5. Read more.

March 11, 2010 - As a child, I always heard my mother call herself the lioness and her children were her cubs. I am now a parent and see myself in the same light as she did. So now, as a parent leader of the Education Committee of the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Co Read more.

March 11, 2010 - The Bronx may not be burning anymore, but the borough still has its share of problems to face, said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. in his first state of the borough address. Read more.

March 9, 2010 - The city may be giving a cold shoulder to finding a new plan for the Kingsbridge Armory anytime soon, but Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. says he's ready to move forward. Read more.

March 9, 2010 - On the issue of the Kingsbridge Armory Diaz said that for too long City Hall has embraced the mindset that what is good for developers is what is good for the five boroughs, with little regard for the real needs of the community. Read more.

March 5, 2010 - Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. showed he had a full plate went it comes to improving the Bronx, as he delivered his first State of the Borough address in Olinville on Friday. Read more.

March 5, 2010 - Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. announced the formation of a Kingsbridge Armory Task Force during his first State of the Borough Address, which took place at the Evander Childs High School Campus. The new task force, co-chaired by City Council Memb Read more.

February 26, 2010 - Friday's major winter snowstorm zapped Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.'s first planned State of the Borough speech. Based on his prepared speech, Diaz was to talk on tackling development, jobs, living wages, and gun violence in his new term. Read more.

February 26, 2010 - The White House is looking at a new policy that would give an advantage in bidding on government contracts to companies that offer generous benefits and good pay. Read more.

February 25, 2010 - The Obama administration is planning to use the government’s enormous buying power to prod private companies to improve wages and benefits for millions of workers, according to White House officials and several interest groups briefed on the plan. Read more.

February 25, 2010 - I write in response to Don Bluestone’s op-ed (“What We Lost in Defeat of Armory Proposal”) in the Feb. 11 edition of the Norwood News. Read more.

February 11, 2010 - I would like to respond to the letter of Mr. Lombino of the New York City Economic Development Corporation regarding the proposed development of the Kingsbridge Armory (Riverdale Press, Feb. 4). Read more.

February 11, 2010 - State Sen. Pedro Espada may face a new challenger for his seat this year. Community activist Desiree Pilgrim- Hunter, board president of the formerly troubled Fordham Hill co-op and a leader in the fight for living wages at the Kingsbridge Armory, said sh Read more.

February 10, 2010 - For the second time in as many days, Comptroller John Liu has announced plans to revamp a process related to real estate development. Read more.

February 8, 2010 - Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, a Bronx activist who became the face of last year’s strong community push for living wage jobs at the Kingsbridge Armory, is exploring the possibility of making a run at the state Senate seat occupied by Pedro Espada, Jr. Read more.

January 28, 2010 - As a 25-year Bronx resident and active community leader with the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance who participated in all phases of the development process, I would like to respond to the letter from David Lombino of the New York City Economic De Read more.

January 22, 2010 - It took years of dogged community organizing and shrewd coalition-building around a clear vision for the city’s largest armory to position the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance, or KARA, to take advantage of timing, luck and maybe begin re-writing Read more.

January 22, 2010 - We have spent a good deal of time counteracting the misstatements being propagated by those folks-mostly in the real estate community, and their media lackeys-who were both frightened and appalled by the defeat of the Kingsbridge Armory development. Read more.

January 21, 2010 - Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s State of the City address yesterday scored high marks for encouraging small-business growth, helping low-income New Yorkers with bank accounts, and aiding teens who’ve been jailed. Read more.

January 21, 2010 - New York City can revive its economy by helping Haitians and other immigrants get small business loans, creating jobs and other programs for at-risk youths, boosting anti-foreclosure efforts, and setting up neighborhood credit unions, Mayor Michael Bloomb Read more.

January 18, 2010 - As the nation commemorates King's 81st birthday today, they say he should best be remembered for his career-long focus on the poor. Read more.

January 15, 2010 - First came Kingsbridge: A highly unusual vote at the City Council, which shattered an approximately $300 million proposal from the Related Companies to morph a Bronx armory into a mall. Then came the Queens Center Mall: A call to beef up wages at one of t Read more.

January 13, 2010 - "It's better than nothing ..." That was the reaction of Walter García, a restaurant cashier in Jackson Heights, Queens, when we told him about the federal minimum wage increase that became effective on Friday. Read more.

January 11, 2010 - Nearly a third of all adult workers in New York City are employed in low-wage jobs, but the Bronx is in a league of its own. Read more.

January 11, 2010 - On BronxTalk this week, Bettina Damiani of Good Jobs NY talked in detail about the use of stimulus monies on a new parking garage at St. Barnabas hospital, the Kingsbridge Armory vote in the city council, and other important subjects. Read more.

January 11, 2010 - British historian E.H. Carr once said something to the effect that while no serious scholar makes up the facts, they all choose which facts “to put on stage.” Read more.

January 10, 2010 - The City Council's December decision to turn down the Kingsbridge Armory project has been described as a stunning blow to developers. Crain's editorialized that “there are only losers here” (“An unmistakable political shift,” Jan. 4). But the council's ac Read more.

January 8, 2010 - Members of the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) watched in hushed suspense from the visitors gallery above the City Council chamber on Dec. 14. Read more.

January 7, 2010 - A retail developer in New York City has lost out on about $60 million in public subsidies because it and Mayor Mike Bloomberg refused to promise a living wage. The subsidy fight is one piece of a growing national push to tie public money used in mega-deve Read more.

January 7, 2010 - As a vote neared in the City Council on the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment, only Oliver Koppell was publicly expressing reservations about joining with the Bronx delegation in rejecting the project. Read more.

January 7, 2010 - Cash-strapped communities have a message for corporations that promised jobs in return for tax breaks: A deal's a deal. Read more.

January 6, 2010 - The beginning of the year also marks the beginning of a new City Council term, which means new projects and legislation in the works for the city, the Bronx, and the Riverdale/ Kingsbridge area. Read more.

January 6, 2010 - In this week's issue of Crain's New York the magazine (subsc.) takes a swipe at the victorious opponents of the Kingsbridge Armory project-again: "The cheers that filled the gallery when the City Council decisively voted down a plan to redevelop the Kings Read more.

December 28, 2009 - We have grown both tired and irritated over the litany of false aspersions leveled at the successful opponents of the failed Kingsbridge Armory development. What has been noticeably absent from relentless barrage, is any historical perspective-and an hone Read more.

December 24, 2009 - NEW YORK - Who said you can't beat City Hall? In the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, a predominantly Hispanic working-class neighborhood, people are feeling good these days about what they accomplished when they organized against powerful business inter Read more.

December 22, 2009 - BROOKLYN -- “Clearing the decks” is an old naval term, from the age of sail, meaning to get ready for combat by putting nothing critically needed for fighting below decks or out of the way. A well-trained crew could get the job done in no time. Read more.

December 22, 2009 - Economic indicators may be bouncing back this holiday season, but the working poor aren't so lucky. As they're forced to work harder for less pay and bills pile up, the floor seems to be falling out from under them. Read more.

December 22, 2009 - The City Council dealt a final blow on Monday to a developer’s plans to build a mall inside the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx, a significant defeat for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on a key project. Read more.

December 22, 2009 - Nueva York — En la última sesión del año 2009 del Concejo Municipal se votaron tres proyectos de rezonificación importantes, dos de los cuales pusieron en evidencia enfrentamientos entre las dos ramas del poder municipal: el alcalde Michael Bloomberg y lo Read more.

December 22, 2009 - As we have already commented, the city council dramatically overrode the, mayor's veto of the Kingsbridge Armory project, capping a magnificent campaign by the Alliance and the KARA coalition-girded by the essential backing of the RWDSU. The success of th Read more.

December 21, 2009 - The City Council on Monday hit Mayor Bloomberg with a triple whammy just in time for Christmas. Read more.

December 21, 2009 - The City Council voted against the plan to develop the Kingsbridge Armory Monday night after Mayor Michael Bloomberg vetoed the council's Dec. 14 decision. Read more.

December 21, 2009 - The Kingsbridge Armory project has been shot down once again by the City Council, which overrode the mayor's veto of their veto, killing the planned retail mall in the Bronx all over again. Read more.

December 21, 2009 - As shoppers scurried to snatch up last minute gifts inside the Queens Center Mall, local elected officials and community organizations painted the shopping destination's landlord, Macerich, as the latest Grinch in the ongoing fight for living wages -- jus Read more.

December 20, 2009 - It's pushback time for the real-estate industry on the Kingsbridge Armory. Read more.

December 20, 2009 - A key skirmish in the battle over living wage jobs takes place in Elmhurst at 11 a.m. today, when a cluster of community and labor organizations and local pols will gather at the main entrance of Queens Center Mall for a press conference condemning low wa Read more.

December 20, 2009 - Gary LaBarbera reports that many, including some union leaders, are cheering the demise of the Related Co.’s plan to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory (“New York’s New Tool for Killing Jobs,” PostOpinion, Dec. 16). Read more.

December 19, 2009 - RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum doesn't think he needs to apologize to his labor brothers and sisters for his role in killing the Kingsbridge Armory project. Read more.

December 18, 2009 - Downtown at City Hall on the afternoon of Monday, December 14, union bosses and lobbyists, Bronx pols and CEOs breathlessly rehashed a historic City Council vote to oppose the rezone and redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory as a shopping mall. Read more.

December 18, 2009 - Even for a born-and-bred New Yorker, figuring out this city and some of its leaders can be tricky. Let’s see if we’ve got some recent developments straight. Read more.

December 18, 2009 - Mayor Michael Bloomberg is using his veto power Thursday to block a City Council vote that squashed an ambitious redevelopment project in the Bronx. Read more.

December 17, 2009 - WNYC Reporter Matthew Schuerman reports on recent developments at development hotspots around the city: Atlantic Yards, West Harlem, Kingsbridge Armory and the Broadway Triangle. He is joined by Bronx borough president Ruben Diaz, Jr. for more on the King Read more.

December 17, 2009 - The Kingsbridge Armory, where men once mustered men for war, won’t be turned into a glorious mall where human dignity is one of the main items on sale, because of a City Council vote on Monday. Read more.

December 16, 2009 - Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he will not try to save a plan to turn a vacant Bronx armory into a shopping mall. This comes after Monday's vote in the City Council rejected the redevelopment project. Read more.

December 16, 2009 - In a rare decision for the City Council — which has voted in support of almost every single development project backed by Mayor Bloomberg — the group turned down a plan to convert the Kingsbridge Armory into a shopping mall Read more.

December 16, 2009 - It was an ending worthy of David and Goliath. After a 13-year fight over the fate of the Kingsbridge Armory, the proposal to redevelop the historic building as a shopping mall came to a vote at City Council Monday morning. The result was 45 votes in favo Read more.

December 16, 2009 - KARA members Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter and Teresa Anderson speak to Bronx Talk Read more.

December 16, 2009 - In this morning's NY Daily News the paper analyzes the factors that led to the defeat of the development plan: "A perfect storm of political headwinds blew apart plans to make Kingsbridge Armory a massive shopping mall, insiders said. "Events came togethe Read more.

December 16, 2009 - A perfect storm of political headwinds blew apart plans to make Kingsbridge Armory a massive shopping mall, insiders said. Read more.

December 15, 2009 - Shoving the debate over paying living wages into the spotlight, the City Council rejected a proposal from the Bloomberg administration and developer Related Companies yesterday that would have turned an empty, gargantuan armory in the Bronx into a shoppin Read more.

December 15, 2009 - By all measures, a press conference early Monday afternoon on the steps of City Hall appeared to be a victory celebration. Read more.

December 15, 2009 - Dos subcomités del Concejo Municipal y el pleno entero votaron en contra de un plan para convertir la Armería de Kingsbridge en El Bronx en un gran centro comercial, la primera vez que el actual Concejo se ha opuesto a una gran propuesta de la administrac Read more.

December 15, 2009 - The City Council has voted down a proposal to turn the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx into a shopping mall. Lawmakers say there was no guarantee the jobs at the mall would pay enough to support a family. WNYC's Matthew Schuerman has more Read more.

December 15, 2009 - When aides to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg recently sought backing from City Council members for a key development project, they heard something they were not accustomed to: No. Read more.

December 15, 2009 - Yesterday’s stunning defeat of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plans to redevelop Kingsbridge Armory—the first time the City Council has rejected a major administration land use initiative—left observers grasping to understand the new political realities at Cit Read more.

December 15, 2009 - Bronx advocates said that the City Council vote on Monday to reject a $310 million project to build a mall inside the Kingsbridge Armory provided an opportunity to come up with a more community-oriented plan for the massive red-brick castle. Read more.

December 15, 2009 - After postponing two votes, two City Council subcommittees voted against a $310 million proposal to transform the Kingsbridge Armory into a shopping Mall. NY1 reports, "This is the first time the current City Council, that which was voted into office in 2 Read more.

December 15, 2009 - The normally tame City Council turned tiger Monday on Mayor Bloomberg and one of his favored developers. Read more.

December 14, 2009 - Two City Council subcommittees and then the full council voted down a multi-million dollar proposal to redevelop Kingsbridge Armory into a shopping mall, killing the much-disputed project. Read more.

December 14, 2009 - The New York City Council voted down the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment project Monday. Read more.

December 14, 2009 - The City Council has rejected the Bloomberg administration's proposal to convert a former national guard armory in the Bronx into a shopping mall. Read more.

December 14, 2009 - In a vote that could affect how future economic development deals are negotiated in New York and across the country, the New York City Council voted to reject the proposed redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx. With this vote the Council es Read more.

December 14, 2009 - Mayor Bloomberg suffered a rare setback to his development agenda when the City Council voted down a proposal to redevelop a Bronx armory into a shopping mall. Read more.

December 14, 2009 - The City Council voted overwhelmingly to block a deal that would have subsidized The Related Companies in creating a mall inside the historic Kingsbridge Armory. Read more.

December 14, 2009 - Lobbyist Richard Lipsky is feeling pretty good in the wake of the unusual defeat by two Council committees of the rezoning required for the Kingsbridge Armory project, confidently pronouncing the plan permanently "dead" - no matter what the administration Read more.

December 14, 2009 - Here's Bronx BP Ruben Diaz Jr. speaking at City Hall rally at which opponents celebrated the death of the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment project in a 45-1 Council vote. Read more.

December 14, 2009 - The City Council is preparing to hand a defeat Monday to the Related Companies, the normally-successful development powerhouse that sought to turn the giant Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx into a mall. Read more.

December 14, 2009 - Manic days of debate and feverish nights of negotiations have come and gone but the Kingsbridge Armory living wage battle rages on. Read more.

December 14, 2009 - Around City Hall this afternoon, fingers of blame will be pointing in all directions if - as seems likely at the moment - the mayor's proposal for the Kingsbridge Armory is voted down today. Read more.

December 13, 2009 - The fate of the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment will likely be decided on Monday (the 14th). The City Council could kill the plan because of the lack of a living wage requirement, or members of the Bronx delegation could agree to a watered-down wage deal Read more.

December 11, 2009 - Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. is joining the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Workers Union (RWDSU) in opposition to a compromise on living wage jobs at the Kingsbridge Armory, a pro Read more.

December 11, 2009 - Mayor Michael Bloomberg is rejecting a proposal that would have resolved the standoff over a proposed mall at the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx. Some city council members, labor unions, and activists have been pushing for a guarantee that all retailers Read more.

December 11, 2009 - ALBANY—Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is urging council members from the borough to vote against a proposal to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory because the developer has not committed to a "living wage" provision for workers in the complex. Read more.

December 11, 2009 - After postponing a vote on Wednesday, the City Council once again postponed the vote today on plans to redevelop Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx into a shopping mall. Read more.

December 11, 2009 - Even if a deal is struck today on developing the Kingsbridge Armory into a $324-million shopping mall, the "living wage" dispute that threatened to derail it will continue to roil City Hall. Read more.

December 11, 2009 - I loved the headline for today's Daily News story on the ongoing (and going) negotiations over the Kingsbridge Armory shopping mall proposal: "NEVERENDING DEAL" in huge type. Very accurate. Read more.

December 10, 2009 - NEW YORK—A City councilman said progress was made Wednesday morning at City Hall on the living wage debate for workers at the proposed Bronx Kingsbridge Armory development project. Read more.

December 10, 2009 - NEW YORK, NY December 09, 2009 —A City Council committee is set to vote this morning on the controversial plan to turn a former National Guard Armory in the Bronx into a shopping mall. WNYC's Matthew Schuerman has more. Read more.

December 10, 2009 - The 15-year struggle to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory will continue one more day - at least. Read more.

December 9, 2009 - The City Council postponed a vote Wednesday on plans to develop the Kingsbridge Armory in order to consider a new proposal put forth by the city. Read more.

December 9, 2009 - The short-hand version is that there was no deal reached between the city and the Bronx delegation on a community benefits agreement that would include living wage job guarantees ($10 an hour, plus benefits). But things are moving in a positive direction Read more.

December 9, 2009 - Too many families in the Bronx know this hard reality: a job is often not enough to climb out of poverty. This is why any investment of city resources—as in the emerging development of the Kingsbridge Armory—must include living wage standards for workers Read more.

December 9, 2009 - UPDATE: According to Councilmember Joel Rivera, the council is worried about 432 potential employees at the Kingsbridge Armory project who would probably not receive living wages. In total, the project is expected to create about 1,000 permanent jobs. Read more.

December 9, 2009 - The Drum Major Institute, a progressive non-partisan think tank, recently released this timely report saying that without a guarantee of living wage jobs, the Kingsbridge Armory shopping mall project will end up being and economic loss for the city. Read more.

December 8, 2009 - This week, the New York City Council will vote on whether to proceed with one of the most exciting development projects in the city - the Kingsbridge Armory, the giant castle in the northwest Bronx that has been vacant for years. The city has approved ove Read more.

December 8, 2009 - Activists want the proposed Kingsbridge Armory shopping center in The Bronx to mandate a "living wage" ($10 an hour with benefits, $11.50 without) for workers there. Sympathetic city councilmembers on the zoning committee threaten to make trouble, and the Read more.

December 8, 2009 - This week, the New York City Council will vote on whether to proceed with one of the most exciting development projects in the city – the Kingsbridge Armory, the giant castle in the northwest Bronx that has been vacant for years. The city has approved ove Read more.

December 8, 2009 - On Wednesday, December 9th the New York City Council will vote on whether to approve the proposed redevelopment of the historic Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx into a retail shopping mall. But unless the project's developer agrees to guarantee living wage Read more.

December 8, 2009 - Oliver Koppell invited his constituents to offer him advice on how he should vote on the proposal to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory into a shopping mall. Read more.

December 8, 2009 - # language in leases mandating participation in providing living wage to all employees (for all retail tenants). # The City will subsidize the living wage via a funding pot; the full purchase price of the Armory ($5 million) will be the initial funding f Read more.

December 8, 2009 - THE CITY HAS BLINKED in the Armory battle. But the sign of slight movement may not be enough in the deadlocked talks over the Kingsbridge Armory to push it past the finish line in tomorrow's City Council vote. Read more.

December 7, 2009 - Great political legacies are decided less by a leader's public policies than their response to crises. As he begins his third and final term, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has the chance to address one of the greatest economic and job crisis in New York's histo Read more.

December 7, 2009 - Bronx residents harmonized on the steps of City Hall on Thursday, December 3 and asked City Council members to resist compromise in the battle for living wage jobs at the Kingsbridge Armory. Council members hinted that Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a new pr Read more.

December 3, 2009 - The Episcopal Bishop of New York writes to Quinn, Council on the Kingsbridge Armory urging adoption of Community Benefit Agreement. The open letter follows below. Read more.

December 3, 2009 - Despite meeting face-to-face on at least two recent Saturdays, the Bronx City Council delegation and the Related Companies are not budging on the issue of living wage in the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment project. Read more.

December 3, 2009 - On Wednesday, Dec. 9, the City Council will decide whether to approve a deal to turn the Kingsbridge Armory into a publicly subsidized shopping mall. Read more.

December 3, 2009 - A possible City Council vote on the controversial Bronx Kingsbridge Armory project was postponed Thursday, pushing the matter back at least a few more days. The Subcomittee on Zoning and Franchises has recessed until Monday, Dec. 7. They could vote then, Read more.

December 3, 2009 - As the Bronx News Network is reporting, the decision on the fate of the Kingsbridge Armory is drawing near-with a final vote expected on the 9th of this month at the city council. The key land use committee meets today-and KARA will be holding a presser t Read more.

December 3, 2009 - The upcoming vote on the proposal to rehabilitate the Kingsbridge Armory as an upscale shopping mall may be postponed yet again. Read more.

December 3, 2009 - A new member of City Council is going to have at least one familiar face working behind the scenes. Read more.

December 2, 2009 - According the City Council's online agenda for the Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee tomorrow morning, the four land use changes that Related and the EDC are applying for with regards to the Armory project are up for discussion (and a vote?). They are li Read more.

November 30, 2009 - City Council members are taking a firm stand for community demands that The Related Companies signs a community benefits agreement that includes living wage jobs before it receives permission to develop the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx. Read more.

November 30, 2009 - More than 300 business and government leaders hob-nobbed and conferred at the New York Botanical Garden on Wednesday, November 18 at a sold-out Bronx Economic Summit organized by Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. Read more.

November 29, 2009 - The word from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at last week’s community meeting in the Bronx was disappointing, to say the least. After promising “good jobs” during a recent campaign, how could a man with so many billions, and now fresh from a re-ele Read more.

November 24, 2009 - The Kingsbridge Armory cliff-hanger will keep dangling well into next month, after a failed attempt yesterday to reach a compromise on the living wage issue there. Read more.

November 23, 2009 - Monday could be the turning point for the embattled Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment plan, with critical City Council members now claiming to have the votes to kill the project. Read more.

November 19, 2009 - The pitched battle over how, when and whether to develop the Kingsbridge armory in the Bronx brings New York City to a crossroads. Read more.

November 19, 2009 - "We have four more years," Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber told a City Council hearing on Tuesday. "I don't know what we'd do in the next four years that we haven't done already." Read more.

November 19, 2009 - The Kingsbridge Armory’s proposed redeveloper and local community activists are no closer to reaching an agreement about for a living wage requirement and community benefits agreement (CBA) after a City Council hearing that began Tuesday morning. Read more.

November 18, 2009 - Last month the City Planning Commission approved a controversial plan to turn the Kingsbridge Armory, a massive red-brick castle in the Bronx, into a mall that will include a large department store, shops and a movie theater. But critics of the $310 milli Read more.

November 18, 2009 - Requiring developers of city property to guarantee a living wage for retail employees may have seemed far-fetched to some observers six months ago. Read more.

November 18, 2009 - Mayor Bloomberg and city development officials remained dead set Tuesday against imposing a "living wage" mandate on the developer who plans to turn the white elephant Kingsbridge Armory into a $310 million shopping mall. Read more.

November 18, 2009 - NEW YORK, NY — A City Council subcommittee has heard from both sides in the lively debate over the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx. The Related Companies wants to turn the former National Guard facility into one of the city's largest shopping malls. Read more.

November 17, 2009 - Plans to turn the Kingsbridge Armory into a mega shopping mall could be facing another challenge as the City Council debates its impact on job opportunities in the surrounding neighborhood. NY1's Dean Meminger filed the following report. Read more.

November 17, 2009 - For nearly a decade, the Kingsbridge Armory, a striking red brick hulk built in 1917 to house the National Guard, has sat vacant amidst the poverty-stricken neighborhoods of the northwest Bronx. Read more.

November 17, 2009 - A repetitive refrain filled City Hall’s council chambers on Tuesday morning. For a good hour at a zoning committee hearing on the contentious plan to redevelop the Bronx’s Kingsbridge Armory into a mall, council member after council member battered the Bl Read more.

November 17, 2009 - Hundreds of people are expected to show up at City Hall this morning for a public hearing about the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx. WNYC's Matthew Schuerman has the details. Read more.

November 17, 2009 - When the city gives a private developer public subsidies, the surrounding community should benefit from the deal. In the Bronx, community residents are fighting to ensure that a new retail development, which is receiving tens of millions in public subsidi Read more.

November 17, 2009 - This is shaping up to be a showdown between the developer, The Related Companies (and other powerful developers with similar interests) who will be backed by the Bloomberg administration and a coalition of Bronx elected officials and community groups. Cla Read more.

November 17, 2009 - City Council members can expect to get an earful Tuesday at the last public hearing on the controversial Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment project before the final full Council vote. Read more.

November 17, 2009 - Mayor Bloomberg has definitely stepped in to shoot down that living wage proposal for retail workers at the Kingsbridge Armory. Read more.

November 16, 2009 - Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr. stood before a raucous crowd and vowed to continue fighting a “new revolution.” Read more.

November 16, 2009 - As the City Council takes up consideration of the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment plan, the developer and local pols are locked in a dispute that could derail the project. Read more.

November 13, 2009 - Earlier today, with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. said he had a little insider tip for the Bronx News Network. Tomorrow, Diaz said, he and members of the Bronx Council delegation would be meeting wit Read more.

November 12, 2009 - With the Bronx City Council delegation coalescing around Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.'s push for living wage requirements and a strong community benefits agreement as part of the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory, other members from the o Read more.

November 12, 2009 - Mayor Michael Bloomberg's successful campaign for a third term was widely anticipated, but the results were not without surprises. Read more.

November 12, 2009 - Comptroller-elect John Liu appeared on Bronx- Talk, a call-in TV talk show dedicated to local issues, on Monday night, and discussed his support for the living wage jobs at the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory. “He said he has had lengthy discussio Read more.

November 12, 2009 - In less than two weeks, the City Council will vote on whether to support the current plan for the Kingsbridge Armory. The Related Companies will pay the city $5 million for a building worth easily six times that (the roof alone cost $30 million), and will Read more.

November 10, 2009 - Could Mayor Bloomberg put the kibosh on the living wage proposal for the Kingsbridge Armory mall? Read more.

November 6, 2009 - Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) have been lobbying Bronx City Council members to reject the Related Companies’ plan to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory into a giant shopping mall unles Read more.

November 5, 2009 - More than 1,000 people rallied at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church in Bedford Park on Oct. 25 in support of what they called responsible development of the Kingsbridge Armory. They want redevelopment plans to include provisions for living wage jobs, affor Read more.

November 5, 2009 - Speaking before a crowd of at least 1,000 people at St. Nicholas of Tolentine School on Oct. 25, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. said the battle for living wages jobs at the Kingsbridge Armory was the beginning of a movement for economic justice i Read more.

November 3, 2009 - Description Goes Here Read more.

November 3, 2009 - As a constituent, I was disappointed to learn of your lack of support for the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA)’s plan for the Armory, including stipulations relating to employment with health benefits, schools and recreation facilities. Th Read more.

November 2, 2009 - On Sunday, October 25, close to 1,000 Bronx residents overflowed the gymnasium of the St. Nicolas of Tolentine Church to demand a new “Blueprint for the Bronx,” a blueprint for responsible economic development, quality health care, decent education and af Read more.

November 2, 2009 - New York City has an economy shaped like an hourglass, with a large number of high-paying jobs on one end, a whole lot of low-wage jobs on the other end, and a narrow midsection where the middle-class jobs are supposed to be. Read more.

October 30, 2009 - In November, the City Council will decide on the fate of the Kingsbridge Armory. The City Council has the final say on whether the landmarked facility will be turned over to the Related Companies for The Shops at the Armory – essentially a mall. The quest Read more.

October 30, 2009 - “Hey Goldman Sachs, we want our money back!” chanted about 60 mainly young protesters from the Bronx in front of the posh home of Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein on the morning of Oct 25. Police guarding the rich man’s high-rise home on Central Park Wes Read more.

October 29, 2009 - “If you want to do business in the Bronx, we can do business,” Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. thundered. “But it has to be good for everybody.” Read more.

October 29, 2009 - Less than a week before Election Day, 5 citywide candidates for public office—minus billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg—spoke at a forum at Trinity Church on Wall St. on poverty, hunger and homelessness in New York City this afternoon. Read more.

October 29, 2009 - Speaking before a crowd of at least 1,000 people who mobbed the gym floor at St. Nicholas of Tolentine School last Sunday, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. said the battle for living wages jobs at the Kingsbridge Armory was the beginning of a movem Read more.

October 27, 2009 - What do Governor Schwarzenegger, the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, labor activists, land use reformers, and many progressives have in common? All blame ballot initiatives for California’s current problems. California’s budget crisis has s Read more.

October 27, 2009 - Bronx residents packed the auditorium at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church on Sunday afternoon to rally for control of the redevelopment plans for the Kingsbridge Armory-- their Armory. Read more.

October 26, 2009 - Boom and bust still characterize the local economy, and despite many ways in which Mayor Michael Bloomberg's tenure has been an improvement over Guiliani's record, his economic leadership similarly has fallen short in ensuring that the benefits of growth Read more.

October 26, 2009 - Con letreros que decían: “Necesitamos más escuelas, no centros comerciales” y “protejan nuestros negocios locales”, cientos de líderes comunitarios, religiosos, padres de estudiantes y asociaciones de inquilino, se unieron ayer a la Northwest Bronx Commun Read more.

October 25, 2009 - The Planning Commission voted 8-4, with one abstention, to approve The Related Companies' redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory, but opponents of the project in its current form declared victory anyway. Read more.

October 22, 2009 - Boom. The Related Companies absorbed a cannonball of sorts on Monday, October 19, as four City Planning Commission (CPC) members rebuffed its Kingsbridge Armory shopping mall plan. But the plan sails on. Related won the CPC vote eight to four. Read more.

October 22, 2009 - The Kingsbridge Armory has taken another crucial step toward becoming a mall.

What a relief.

October 22, 2009 - The City Planning Commission voted Monday to recommend the city sell the Kingsbridge Armory to The Related Companies for conversion into a mall, despite opposition from the Bronx borough president and from a coalition of neighborhood residents, union acti Read more.

October 21, 2009 - The City's most powerful Building Trades official -- Gary LaBarbera, President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York -- has thrown in with the community groups that organized the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KAR Read more.

October 21, 2009 - The developer of Manhattan’s upscale Time-Warner Center has received city Planning Commission approval to turn the Bronx’s historic Kingsbridge Armory into a retail complex. Read more.

October 21, 2009 - Opponents of the developer's plans for the Kingsbridge Armory are bringing out the big guns for the final battle as the proposal moves to the City Council. Read more.

October 21, 2009 - RESOLVED: The Central Labor Council has passed a resolution asking City Council members to demand living-wage jobs at a redeveloped Kingsbridge Armory, joining more than half a dozen other labor organizations that have made similar calls. Read more.

October 20, 2009 - The City Planning Commission voted on Monday in favor of a developer's plan to turn the Kingsbridge Armory building in the Bronx into a shopping mall, including a large grocery store. After the vote, opponents called on the City Council, which gets the fi Read more.

October 20, 2009 - NUEVA YORK — La Comisión de Planeamiento de la Ciudad, (CPC), votó ayer 8-4 a favor del proyecto de rezonificación y venta del Armory presentado por la compañía Related, para la construcción de un centro comercial en el Kingsbridge Armory de El Bronx, dej Read more.

October 20, 2009 - NEW YORK, NY October 20, 2009 —The Bloomberg administration's plan to turn a former armory in the Bronx into a shopping mall was approved by the City Planning Commission, eight to four. Read more.

October 20, 2009 - NEW YORK (AP/1010 WINS) -- The developer of Manhattan's upscale Time-Warner Center has received city Planning Commission approval to turn the Bronx's historic Kingsbridge Armory into a retail complex. Read more.

October 19, 2009 - KINGSBRIDGE - The New York City Planning Commission voted in favor of developing the Kingsbridge Armory Monday, 8-4. Read more.

October 19, 2009 - The proposal to redevelop the largest armory in the country into a shopping mall became one step closer to reality Monday following a vote by the city's planning commission. NY1's Dean Meminger filed the following report. Read more.

October 19, 2009 - Following up on the previous post, the vote at City Planning on the Kingsbridge Armory was 8 to 4. A defeat? Obviously. But hardly a nail in the coffin as many Council members will look to the votes of their borough presidents -- and three BP reps (Bronx, Read more.

October 19, 2009 - The City Planning Commission approved the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx and the development of the Broadway Triangle in Brooklyn today — both controversial applications that have seen significant community opposition. Read more.

October 19, 2009 - The City Planning Commission approved a controversial plan Monday to turn the Kingsbridge Armory, a soaring red-brick castle in the northwest Bronx, into a mall that will include a large department store, dozens of shops, and a movie theater. Read more.

October 19, 2009 - We just got word that, while the City Planning Commission gave the thumbs up to the Related Companies' proposal to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory, the representatives of two other borough presidents -- Marty Markowitz of Brooklyn and Scott Stringer of M Read more.

October 19, 2009 - Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., local activists, and labor leaders said that if the Kingsbridge Armory was going to be turned into a mall, as the city proposed, its management should be made to pay workers "living wage" rates. Read more.

October 19, 2009 - The City Planning Commission is doing what it has always done for the past eight years-rubber stamping the mayor's wishes-and today it will ignore the entreaties of supermarket owners and elected officials and approve, without significant reservation, the Read more.

October 19, 2009 - Traditionally, most city officials concerned with fostering development have focused on economic growth, allowing private investors and developers to dictate the terms. Even those sympathetic to social justice have worried that efforts to raise wages or r Read more.

October 17, 2009 - At its monthly meeting on Wednesday, October 14th, Bronx Council for Environmental Quality (BCEQ) considered your request to become part of the Alliance that is fighting for responsible development of the Kingsbridge Armory. Read more.

October 16, 2009 - The heads of 32BJ SEIU, 1199 SEIU, the UFT, DC 37, the Hotel Trades Council and the Building & Construction Trades Council sent letters in the past week urging council members to demand that The Related Companies commit to permanent living-wage jobs Read more.

October 15, 2009 - Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. took a swing at Kingsbridge Armory developer The Related Companies on Friday, October 9 in a retort critical of environmental impact statements released by city consultants. Read more.

October 13, 2009 - With the clock ticking down, it's become a slugfest of words between the proposed developer of the Kingsbridge Armory and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. Read more.

October 9, 2009 - Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. says the Kingsbridge Armory's designated developer, The Related Companies, is not responding to community concerns about the Armory project. Read more.

October 8, 2009 - Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. told the Bronx’s business community on Oct. 1 that ensuring a living wage is the way to end the borough’s reign as the poorest urban county in the nation. Read more.

October 6, 2009 - Believe it or not, the Bronx is enduring the economic downturn better than expected, according to new U.S. Census numbers. Read more.

October 1, 2009 - My name is Diana Moore and I am a student at Fordham University. I wanted to write to let you know how much it means to me that Borough President Diaz is taking a stand against Related and fighting for the community. Read more.

October 1, 2009 - According to a new analysis conducted by the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, pilot anti-poverty programs initiated by Mayor Michael Bloomberg aided only 3 percent of New Yorkers in poverty. The figure rounds out to about one in 33. Read more.

September 30, 2009 - MAS recently sat down with four young people from the Bronx and Brooklyn who are confronting neighborhood planning challenges head-on. Armed with information, enthusiasm and a supportive network of adults, these young people are taking the lead in address Read more.

September 29, 2009 - As the NY Daily News is reporting today, the environmental impact study that was done for the Kingsbridge Armory seriously underestimates the traffic impacts of the project-and that's even without the inclusion of a supermarket. Read more.

September 29, 2009 - The Draft Environmental Impact Statement by the developer for the Kingsbridge Armory is coming under scrutiny - and under fire from opponents of the project. Read more.

September 29, 2009 - In its latest report, the census bureau says the Bronx continues to be the poorest urban county in the nation. NY1's Dean Meminger filed the following report. Read more.

September 29, 2009 - In its latest report, the census bureau says the Bronx continues to be the poorest urban county in the nation. NY1's Dean Meminger filed the following report. Read more.

September 27, 2009 - As ministers in the community, we know the devastating toll that low-wage, part-time work takes on our families and our community. Economic development that keeps our parishioners in poverty helps no one. Read more.

September 25, 2009 - Under the Bloomberg Administration, our neighborhoods have been re-zoned to a greater extent than any time in recent history. Adding the use of tax-payer subsidies in many of those developments should guarantee broad community benefits and good jobs. But Read more.

September 25, 2009 - The battle for development at the Kingsbridge Armory has taken on biblical proportions. At City Hall, members of the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance and Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. testified. Read more.

September 24, 2009 - Newly elected AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, the nation's top labor leader, touched down in the Bronx on Tuesday afternoon to stand with local activists and union members in their ongoing struggle to exact significant concessions from The Related Compa Read more.

September 24, 2009 - The coalition pushing for living-wage jobs at the Kingsbridge Armory rolled out the big guns on Tuesday with an appearance by new AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka at a round-table discussion at Fordham Manor Reform Church. Read more.

September 23, 2009 - Newly elected AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, the nation’s top labor leader, touched down in the Bronx on yesterday afternoon to stand with local activists and union members in their ongoing struggle to exact significant concessions from the Related Com Read more.

September 21, 2009 -

How did Fordham Road become part of the South Bronx?

That winding, sloping commercial strip is actually closer to Yonkers than it is to Mott Haven. Yet in the minds of some bureaucrats, reporters and bankers, it became the upper limit o Read more.

September 20, 2009 - While Alair Townsend is right that the Bronx has the highest unemployment rate of the five boroughs (“Community deals sell NY down river,” Sept. 14), a more pressing problem is the lack of well-paying jobs. In the west Bronx neighborhoods surrounding the Read more.

September 18, 2009 - The Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance will be hosting new AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka in the neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon including a 3:30 meeting at the Armory. Read more.

September 17, 2009 - For anybody interested in the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment and possible CBA, it's worth a few minutes to take a look at Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.'s recommendation to the planning commission. Read more.

September 17, 2009 - The Bronx Chamber of Commerce just sent out a release announcing honorees for their Oct. 1 banquet. Read more.

September 17, 2009 - The Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment plan took the next step forward last week in a hearing before the City Planning Commission downtown. Read more.

September 16, 2009 - Alair Townsend, the former Crain's publisher, and now columnist-or calumnist, as it were-lashes out against (subscription only) the opponents of the Kingsbridge Armory development in the latest issue of the magazine; and manages to not only obfuscate the Read more.

September 15, 2009 - When I was elected to serve as Bronx borough president in April, I made it clear that I would be a fighter for the 1.4 million residents of this great borough. Being a fighter means standing up for what is right and just, and refusing to bow down to Read more.

September 15, 2009 - It is a sin that the sprawling Kingsbridge Armory has lain unused so long, but not such a sin that the city should rush into the current proposal for its redevelopment. Read more.

September 10, 2009 - In a sharp break from his predecessor’s lenient approach to development in the borough, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz has applied the brakes to a city-backed proposal to turn the Kingsbridge Armory into a shopping mall. Read more.

September 10, 2009 - The plans for the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment were rolled out again on Wednesday in the project's third public hearing, this time for the City Planning Commission. Read more.

September 10, 2009 - Not all Bronx borough presidents are created equal.

This became clear when Ruben Díaz Jr. took a step few believe his predecessor Adolfo Carrión would have taken: He came out against the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory by the Related Co Read more.

September 10, 2009 - Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. announced last week that he has formally told the City Planning Commission he thinks the sale of the Kingsbridge Armory to the Related Companies should not happen. Read more.

September 9, 2009 - In a stark break with his predecessor, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz has refused to back a project pushed by a politically connected developer. Diaz raised eyebrows Friday when he recommended rejection of the redevelopment plan from The Related Co Read more.

September 9, 2009 - Community groups, a big retail workers union and Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. told the City Planning Commission today not to approve the Related Companies' plan to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory into a giant shopping mall because the developer has r Read more.

September 4, 2009 - After months of weighing the issue, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz gave a thumbs down Friday to the Related Cos.' proposed redevelopment of the 600,000-plus-square-foot Kingsbridge Armory. Read more.

September 4, 2009 - We just got a press release from Borough President Ruben Diaz announcing that the will recommend a "no" vote to the City Planning Commission on the Kingsbridge Armory project. Read more.

September 3, 2009 - Armory walls have historic tales to tell.

The Kingsbridge Armory is littered with the scraps of old dreams. Read more.

September 3, 2009 - Behind the financial woes afflicting millions of Americans - unemployment, lousy wages, bankruptcy and foreclosure - lies a phenomenon some scholars are calling "the gloves-off economy." Read more.

September 3, 2009 - Errol Louis has a provocative piece in today's NY Daily News on what he calls, "the, gloves off economy." It refers to the increasingly prevalent tactics of creating, "permatemps," workers without a real living wage or proper benefits. Read more.

September 1, 2009 - Raise your hands. Who remembers Basketball City?

Thirteen years ago, it was Mayor Rudy Giuliani's grand plan for a sports/retail complex in the Kingsbridge Armory. Never happened. And the nabe went about its business just fine, thank-youverym Read more.

August 28, 2009 - The question that some of the opponents of the redvelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory have is; Can the unbridled greed and naked political power of the Related Companies be thwarted in the interests of what's best for the local community and the city as a Read more.

August 27, 2009 - When city tax dollars are used to subsidize a private developer, community residents should benefit from the deal. That is the principle behind the fight to bring living wage jobs to the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx. Read more.

August 27, 2009 - They want a living wage - even if it kills the deal for redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory. Read more.

August 27, 2009 - La Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance, KARA, y el presidente de El Bronx, Rubén Díaz Jr., anunciaron ayer los términos del Acuerdo de Beneficio para la Comunidad (CBA) que la empresa seleccionada por la ciudad para desarrollar el Kingsbridge Armory Read more.

August 27, 2009 - Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. has asked for and received an extension on his deadline to submit a recommendation for the Kingsbridge Armory mall project, saying he first wants to see how the project’s developer responds to a proposed Community B Read more.

August 27, 2009 - As I get ready to go back to school, I like to look back on my summer vacation. I am proud to say that this summer I led hundreds of neighborhood youth in the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance’s campaign to make sure that the redevelopment of the Read more.

August 27, 2009 - In the past few months, Councilwoman Maria Baez has raked in a significant amount of cash from local supermarkets in support of her reelection campaign in the 14th District. According to the Campaign Finance Board, Baez has garnered $3,375 from a variety Read more.

August 26, 2009 - This morning, Bronx Boro Prez Ruben Diaz, Jr. and Stuart Applebaum, the head of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, held a press conference on Kingsbridge Road, in front of the Kingsbridge Armory, to show solidarity in their opposition to a Read more.

August 25, 2009 - Redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory has taken more than a decade so far, but it will have to wait up to two more weeks before moving forward toward approval. Read more.

August 25, 2009 - Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz will soon announce whether he is going to support The Related Companies' application to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory. Read more.

August 24, 2009 - Officials in the Bronx get a little more time to decide on the proposed development of the Kingsbridge Armory. Read more.

August 21, 2009 - Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. has asked for and received an extension on his deadline to submit his recommendation to the city regarding the Kingsbridge Armory mall project, saying he wants to see how the developer responds to a proposed Communi Read more.

August 20, 2009 - Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. has delivered the Kingsbridge Heights community’s list of concerns to a powerhouse developer, that is hoping to turn a long-vacant former military drill hall into a massive mall. Read more.

August 18, 2009 - It's unanimous.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz has joined with the entire Bronx City Council delegation in opposing a new supermarket at the Kingsbridge Armory.

August 13, 2009 - The developer seeking to make a mall out of a city-owned Kingsbridge parking lot wants to renegotiate the price with the city in part because The Related Companies got such a good deal for the Kingsbridge Armory, according to a source briefed by a develop Read more.

August 12, 2009 - After noticeably missing BP Ruben Diaz’s public hearing on the Kingsbridge Armory’s redevelopment process, 14th District City Councilwoman Maria Baez took to the streets yesterday afternoon to support local supermarkets. These smaller, localized supermark Read more.

August 6, 2009 - Previous community benefits agreements struck in the Bronx are either examples of responsible growth or failures of government to stick up for constituents — depending on who’s talking. Read more.

August 4, 2009 - Although his decision on whether to support the plan by The Related Companies to fill the landmarked building with shops is nonbinding, area residents are looking to Diaz to wring meaningful concessions from the developer in a CBA. Read more.

August 3, 2009 - As the fight over the development of the Kingsbridge Armory wends its way downtown, it is a good time to reflect on the meaning of the struggle-and its potential impact on the upcoming election cycle. Read more.

July 30, 2009 - On Monday night in a public hearing that started at 6:00 p.m. and ended at 9:30 p.m, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. listened to over 100 Bronxites who either live, work, or had concerns about the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment project. Read more.

July 30, 2009 - To the editor:
I attended the CB 7 meeting on the redevelopment plan for the Kingsbridge Armory and I was sadly disappointed. The best efforts of our local leaders resulted in a plan to subsidize a private developer to create yet another retail mal Read more.

July 27, 2009 - Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. held a public hearing Monday night at Lehman College to allow hundreds of residents to weigh in on redevelopment plans for the Kingsbridge Armory. Read more.

July 26, 2009 - "It's better than nothing ..." That was the reaction of Walter García, a restaurant cashier in Jackson Heights, Queens, when we told him about the federal minimum wage increase that became effective on Friday Read more.

July 23, 2009 - Followed by a crowd of more than 500 people, including activists, politicians, union leaders, local clergy, new moms and a radical marching band, 16-year-old Adolfo Abreu wrapped yellow tape around the Kingsbridge Armory. The message from the northwest Br Read more.

July 23, 2009 - Without a living wage, new retail in the Kingsbridge Armory will create a company town that keeps workers poor. Read more.

July 23, 2009 - Angering a coalition of Kingsbridge Heights residents and construction and retail unions, Community Board 7 on July 14 voted to approve the transformation of the Kingsbridge Armory into a nearly 600,000- square-foot mall. Read more.

July 23, 2009 - In the face of loud opposition from community groups, union leaders, business owners and local residents, the members of Community Board 7 voted to conditionally approve a developer’s plans to turn the long-vacant Kingsbridge Armory into a giant shopping Read more.

July 23, 2009 - “Think globally, act locally” is a phrase often used to describe how each of us, in our own way, can do things to make the world a better place. This saying came to mind most recently when I read Pope Benedict XVI’s new encyclical, “Charity in Truth,” tha Read more.

July 23, 2009 - Hundreds of northwest Bronx residents chanted, stomped and danced from a Wednesday, July 15 rally at the Our Lady of Refuge Church to Kingsbridge Road and Jerome Avenue, where they wrapped the Kingsbridge Armory in caution tape. "Es nuestro arsenal," the Read more.

July 22, 2009 - Community groups and new Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. are combining forces to negotiate an agreement that would provide additional community benefits from the coming redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Amory. Read more.

July 20, 2009 - Michael Bloomberg remains an overwhelming favorite for re-election, even as polls keep finding that most New Yorkers would just as soon someone else took over at City Hall. It's the riddle of Campaign 2009. Chalk it up to uninspiring opponents, the advant Read more.

July 17, 2009 - While the forthcoming increase in the minimum wage has workers rejoicing and retailers grimacing, the living wage debate continues to fester. Widely demonized as a euphemism for Socialism, the idea of offering entry-level employees salaries that encourage Read more.

July 16, 2009 - Last night, in the auditorium of Our Lady of Refuge School, in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, the clergy representing several local churches and faith based groups, neighborhood residents and community organizers, came together with union represent Read more.

July 16, 2009 - From the time Giuliani was mayor to this day, the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx has elicited many different - and strong - opinions on what it should look like. Read more.

July 15, 2009 - We thought we'd try a little something different here on the blog today. Introducing our first ever photo narrative story. We'll show you photos and go through what happened last night as Community Board 7 voted to conditionally approve of the Related Com Read more.

July 14, 2009 - A redevelopment plan for the long-dormant Kingsbridge Armory will face its first official test of public approval Tuesday night. Read more.

July 9, 2009 - Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. has made it clear that he plans to do things differently when it comes to large development projects in the borough. Read more.

July 9, 2009 - Central to the battle over the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment is the demand by community organizations that retailers pay their workers a “living wage” at the revamped facility. Read more.

July 9, 2009 - Vacant since 1994, the massive Kingsbridge Armory, one of the largest armories in the world, is on the verge of being transformed into a retail shopping mall. The Related Companies, the Armory’s well-connected and prolific developer, say the project, whic Read more.

July 9, 2009 - Since last fall, the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance, known as KARA, has advocated for a strong, substantial and binding agreement that would give the community additional benefits from the long-vacant Kingsbridge Armory’s city-subsidized transf Read more.

July 9, 2009 - Fernando Tirado, the district manager of Community Board 7, thought the Lehman College faculty dining hall, with its 400-person capacity, would provide ample space for a public hearing on a plan to develop the vacant Kingsbridge Armory into one of the Bro Read more.

July 9, 2009 - Years of arguments about the use of the Kingsbridge Armory have finally resulted in some form of peace. Read more.

July 9, 2009 - Central to the battle over the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment is the demand by community organizations that retailers pay their workers a “living wage” at the revamped facility. Read more.

July 9, 2009 - After learning that Kingsbridge Armory plans include a new supermarket, Avi Kaner, owner of Morton Williams, threatened to close both of his Bronx stores. Both stores, still called “Associated” by most neighborhood residents, are located on Jerome Avenue. Read more.

July 9, 2009 - Community Board 7 is being asked to vote on Related’s proposal on July 14 before a CBA is in place. Board Chair Greg Faulkner was critical of the city’s expedited schedule for starting the land use review process precisely because it didn’t give the Board Read more.

July 9, 2009 - Avi Kaner, vice president and part owner of the Morton Williams supermarket chain, picks up a box of Driscoll’s brand strawberries off the produce rack in the company’s Kingsbridge Road store and says, “Look, same as you get at Whole Foods in Manhattan.” Read more.

July 6, 2009 - Gary Axelbank of the Bronxnet Channel 67 program Bronxtalk Primetime interviews KARA members and activists Doug Cunningham from New Day Church and Morton Sloan from Morton Williams Supermarkets. Read more.

June 25, 2009 - On June 24, Community Board 7 held a public hearing on the Related Companies’ application to develop the Kingsbridge Armory. Read more.

June 23, 2009 - It’s probably safe to assume that the faculty dining room at the Bronx’s Lehman College will be packed the evening of June 24 with a lot of people wanting a lot of things from the Related Companies. Read more.

March 5, 2009 - This week the city will begin discussing how much public financing to award the Related Companies in exchange for buying and renovating the Kingsbridge Armory into a giant shopping mall. Read more.

October 16, 2008 - With every large-scale urban development project, like the overhaul planned for the Kingsbridge Armory, comes the inevitable question: How will the community benefit? The answer varies depending on factors such as the project’s popularity, the number Read more.

October 16, 2008 - The Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance dominated the first official public hearing to discuss community hopes and concerns regarding the massive renovation of the 100-year-old landmark. Read more.

June 25, 2008 - Residents of the northwest Bronx have long taken a proprietary interest in the Kingsbridge Armory, a huge city-owned Romanesque-style fortress that looms over the elevated subway tracks on Jerome Avenue. Read more.

May 28, 2008 - What's the typical scenario for sizeable building projects in New York? A developer hatches a plan without community input - for luxury stores, or condos or offices. When the plan is unveiled, local residents object. "The buildings will wreck the neighbor Read more.

April 25, 2008 - Deal with us or no deal, a coalition of community, unions and elected officials told the newly selected developer of the Kingsbridge Armory Thursday. Read more.

April 25, 2008 - Líderes electos de El Bronx y la comunidad, pidieron ayer frente a la Alcaldía que el edificio de la Armería de Kingsbridge se convierta en por lo menos dos escuelas y no en un centro comercial, como planea la Compañía Related. Read more.

April 24, 2008 - Just days after the Bloomberg administration announced a $310 million plan to turn the Kingsbridge Armory into a shopping mall, a coalition of 20 groups will ask the developer for a community benefits agreement. Read more.

April 24, 2008 - The city may have finally chosen a developer this week to transform the long-vacant Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx into a $310 million retail destination, but residents in the area said today that what they really need are good jobs Read more.

April 23, 2008 - Community activists want their voices heard before plans are finalized to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx. Read more.

April 22, 2008 - The New York City Economic Development Corp. has picked The Related Companies to redevelop The Bronx's Kingsbridge Armory - a former Post World War II indoor midget track venue. Read more.

April 22, 2008 - For years, the Kingsbridge Armory, a blocklong red brick castle with soaring turrets that dominates the West Bronx’s low-rise streetscape, has been a neighborhood embarrassment. Read more.

April 21, 2008 - The Kingsbridge Armory, once the world's largest military drill hall, will be turned over to a private corporation for a $310 million makeover into a massive retail center intended to jumpstart the North Bronx economy, city officials are announcing today. Read more.

November 1, 2007 - Buoyed by a commitment to ensure that a redeveloped Kingsbridge Armory will anchor the community, hundreds of local residents crowded into the Fordham Manor Reform Church last Saturday before marching around the landmark fortress in a cold, driving rain. Read more.

October 28, 2007 - FOR about a decade, residents of Kingsbridge Heights in the Bronx have conjured up their own visions of what the Kingsbridge Armory might become. That is all they could do. The armory, which is said to be the world’s largest, with a drill floor bigger tha Read more.

October 25, 2007 - As Kingsbridge activists gathered for a rally on Saturday, October 27, to let the prospective developer of the Kingsbridge Armory know the community wants a say in final plans, one of three potential developers withdrew its bid to redevelop the Armory. Read more.

November 30, 2006 - BRONX Residents have high hopes for proposals to create shops, sports facilities, multiplex theaters and community spaces inside the Kingsbridge Armory, which, at 575,000 square feet, is among the largest in the world. Read more.

October 20, 2005 - There was a lot of good feeling in July, when practically every local lawmaker showed up to escort Governor Pataki on a tour of the Kingsbridge Armory.
But, as far as we know, not one positive development has come from that meeting more than 15 w Read more.

September 30, 2005 - There came a time when the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx was in such bad shape that the state gave it away.
The armory, a once-grand Romanesque fortress, had been revered by the National Guard artillery unit that relocated there from Manhattan in Read more.

November 30, 1999 - "A brigade of 400 Bronxites are marching their way to the armory at the top of Kingsbridge Road. When they get there, they loop yellow caution tape outside the armory's fence. Their message is clear: this is OUR armory." Read more.